India sees improvement in maternal, child health indicators, says 2021 SRS report
New Delhi, May 10 (PTI): India has witnessed a significant improvement in key maternal and child health indicators between 2014 and 2021, according to a Health Ministry statement.
The Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) has declined by 37 points from 130 per lakh live births in 2014-16 to 93 in 2019-21, the statement mentioned, citing the Sample Registration System (SRS) Report 2021 released by the Registrar General of India (RGI) on Wednesday.
Similarly, the downward trend of child mortality indicators continued.
The Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) has dropped from 39 per 1000 live births in 2014 to 27 per 1000 live births in 2021.
The Neonatal Mortality Rate (NMR) has declined from 26 per 1000 live births in 2014 to 19 per 1000 live births in 2021. Under-Five Mortality Rate (U5MR) has also improved, dropping from 45 in 2014 to 31 per 1000 live births in 2021.
The Sex Ratio at Birth also improved between 2014 and 2031, getting better from 899 to 913, respectively. Total Fertility Rate is consistent at 2.0 in 2021, which is a notable progress from 2.3 in 2014.
According to the SRS 2021 Report, eight states have already attained the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) target of MMR (less than or equal to 70 by 2030). Kerala (20), Maharashtra (38), Telangana (45), Andhra Pradesh (46), Tamil Nadu (49), Jharkhand (51), Gujarat (53), and Karnataka (63) are among the top performers.
The Ministry also said that 12 states and UT have already attained SDG target of U5MR (less than 25 by 2030): Kerala (8), Delhi (14), Tamil Nadu (14), Jammu & Kashmir (16), Maharashtra (16), West Bengal (20), Karnataka (21), Punjab (22), Telangana (22), Himachal Pradesh (23), Andhra Pradesh (24) and Gujarat (24).
Besides, six states and one UT have already attained the SDG target of NMR (less than 12 by 2030): Kerala (4), Delhi (8), Tamil Nadu (9), Maharashtra (11), Jammu & Kashmir (12) and Himachal Pradesh (12).
Further, India's progress in the reduction of maternal and child mortality indicators has outpaced global averages, the Ministry said in its statement.
As per the current United Nations Maternal Mortality Estimation Inter-agency Group (UN-MMEIG) Report 2000-2023, India's MMR has reduced by 23 points from 2020 to 2023.
By this achievement, MMR of India has now declined by 86 per cent compared to the global reduction of 48 per cent over the past 33 years from 1990 to 2023, the statement said.
Significant achievement has been highlighted in the reduction of Child Mortality in India in the United Nations Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UN-IGME) Report 2024.
The UN-IGME report said India achieved a 78 per cent decline in the Under-Five Mortality Rate (U5MR), surpassing the global reduction of 61 per cent; 70 per cent decline in the Neonatal Mortality Rate (NMR) compared to 54% globally, and 71 per cent decline in the Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) compared to 58 per cent globally, over the past 33 years from 1990 to 2023.
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Strict security measures in place in Mumbai for Messi's events at 2 venues Dec 14, say police
Mumbai (PTI): In view of Argentine superstar footballer Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai on Sunday, the city police are implementing stringent security measures, like not allowing water bottles, metals, coins inside the stadiums and setting up watchtowers to keep an eye on the crowd, officials said.
The police also said taking extra care to avoid any stampede-like situation and to prevent recurrence of the chaotic situation that unfolded in Kolkata during Messi's visit on Saturday as thousands of fans protested inside the Salt Lake stadium here after failing to catch a clear glimpse of the football icon despite paying hefty sums for tickets.
Messi is expected to be present at the Cricket Club of India (Brabourne Stadium) in Mumbai on Sunday for a Padel GOAT Cup event followed by attending a celebrity football match. He is expected to proceed to the Wankhede Stadium for the GOAT India Tour main event around 5 pm.
"In view of Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai, the police are geared up and have put in place a high level of security arrangements in and around the stadiums located in south Mumbai. Considering the chaos that prevailed in Kolkata and the security breach, we have deployed World Cup-level security arrangements at Brabourne and Wankhede stadiums," an official said.
Expecting heavy crowd near the stadiums during Messi's visit, the city police force has deployed more than 2,000 of its personnel near and around both the venues, he said.
As the Mumbai police have the experience of security 'bandobast' during the victory parade of ICC World Cup-winning Indian team and World Cup final match at the Wankhede Stadium, in which over one lakh cricket fans had gathered, we are prepared to handle a large crowd of fans, he said.
"We are trying to avoid the errors that occurred in the past," the official said.
There is no place to sneak inside the stadiums in Mumbai like the Kolkata stadium, according to him.
The police are also asking the organisers to provide all the required facilities to the fans inside the stadium, so that there will be no chaos, he said, adding the spectators have purchased tickets in the range of Rs 5,000 to 25,000. After paying so much of amount, any spectator expects proper services, while enjoying the event, he said.
The police are expecting 33,000 spectators at the Wankhede Stadium and over 4,000 at Brabourne Stadium. Besides this, more than 30,000 people are expected outside and around the stadiums just to have a glimpse of the football sensation, he said.
The organisers responsible for Messi's India visit recently came to Mumbai to discuss security arrangements. During the meeting, the Mumbai police asked them not to take the event lightly, according to the official.
After those requirements were fulfilled, the final security deployment was chalked out, he said.
Police has the standard procedure of the security arrangements inside the Wankhede Stadium, where people are barred from taking water bottles, metals objects, coins. Police are setting up watch towers near the stadiums and there will be traffic diversions, so that there is maximum space available to stand, according to the official.
Police are also appealing to the spectators to use public transport service for commuting and avoid personal vehicles to reach south Mumbai.
To avoid any stampede-like situation, police are also taking precautionary measures and will stop the fans some distance ahead of the stadium and public announcement systems will be used to guide the crowd. Barricades will be placed at various places to manage the crowd.
In case the crowd swells up beyond expectation, the police will divert people to other grounds and preparations in this regard underway, he said.
Additional police force has been deployed in south Mumbai to tackle any kind of situation, he said.
